Beamer’s Falls #071114

River Forty Mile Creek

Class Ramp

Size Medium

Height: 45

Crest: 20

The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority acquired Beamer Memorial Conservation Area in 1964, to protect and preserve the Niagara Escarpment and the Forty-Mile Creek valley system. The site is home to a variety of Carolinian plants and wildlife.

This Conservation Area has been designated as an Internationally Important Bird Area (IBA) and is widely recognized as the best site in the Niagara Peninsula to observe the annual hawk migration. The lookouts on site offer some of the most breath-taking and panoramic views of the Niagara Escarpment and the shoreline of Lake Ontario.

John and Anna Beamer first settled this property in 1790 where they built a sawmill, powered by the Forty-Mile Creek. Traces of an old quarry that operated in the early 1900’s can still be seen along the west boundary of the Conservation Area, near the brow of the escarpment. In later years a restaurant was located near the waterfalls on the west bank.

The Niagara Escarpment and the Forty-Mile Creek valley system are prominent geological features of this Conservation Area. The Escarpment and area rock were formed from sediment deposits on an ocean floor that covered this area over 400 million years ago. These deposits were compressed over millions of years and formed layers of “sedimentary” rock. The prominent cliffs of the escarpment resulted from river and slope erosion that began over 2.5 million years ago, before the onset of the Ice Age. The landscape was further modified when thick glacial ice sheets advanced and retreated over the area, carving a deep channel into the softer sedimentary rock. Since the last glacial retreat, approximately 13,000 years ago, large volumes of spring melt water continued to erode this channel resulting in the deep gorge of the Forty-Mile Creek.

There are two distinct waterfalls along the Forty-Mile creek which are best observed during high water flows. The upper “cascade falls” located near Ridge Road, is approximately 6 m. (20 ft) high and wide. Further downstream the lower “curtain falls” measures approximately 6 m. high and 11 m. wide.

When first settled, this area was covered in a forest of White Pine, Oak and Hickory. Many of the trees were harvested during settlement in the 1800s’ and milled at the nearby sawmill. Today this area is home to over 300 species of plants including a second growth broadleaf and mixed forest of Sugar Maple, Birch, Red Oak, White Cedar and Hemlock. Such a rich diversity of plants is common to Carolinian Forests in Southern Ontario.

The interior forest at Beamer is home to several songbirds, while the creek and valley system provide habitat for amphibians, fish and turtles such as the Palm Warbler, American Toad, Yellow-spotted Salamander, Largemouth Bass and Eastern Painted Turtle. During the spring migration hawks, falcons and vultures pass over this site as they travel north, to their breeding grounds, from the United States and South America.

As northward migrating hawks encounter the southern shores of the Great Lakes their flight path is deflected in a direction that provides access around the lakes. This is particularly evident for flights around Lakes Erie, Ontario and Superior. Once past the Great Lakes, the birds spread out as they return to their respective breeding territories.

During the spring, from March well into May, the Niagara Peninsula acts as a land bridge between Lakes Erie and Ontario for migrating hawks and may other bird species. Hawks in particular require updrafts that enable the birds to soar and glide, thus conserving energy for the long migratory flight. Updrafts generally occur over land as temperatures increase during the day. The northward moving birds are aided by updrafts created along continental weather fronts that sweep across North America from west to east. As a low-pressure system moves in, winds just ahead of the warm front help migrating hawks move along the Niagara Peninsula. Some hawks are also carried along in the air mass behind the front.

On-shore breezes along the shores of the Great Lakes also play an important role in hawk migration. As the morning sun gets higher and the air mass over land heats up and becomes buoyant, the cooler on-shore breeze penetrates further inland to replace the rising warm air. This condition provides lift above the escarpment face as the breeze is deflected upward. When a moderate on-shore breeze blows toward a moderate prevailing wind, the lakeshore-front created produces puffy white cumulus clouds and, sometimes, spectacular hawk flights with numbers in the thousands.

Beamer Memorial Park is a relatively well known park in the Grimsby area that is famous for the migration of raptors in the spring. Numerous hawk species are found in abundance in spring due to strong updrafts of warmer air over the Escarpment. This waterfall is an interesting example of the ramp form. This type of waterfall occurs where a strong resistant caprock formation is absent, preventing the formation of a "plunge" class waterfall (eg. Balls Falls). Instead, water picks away at the hundreds of thin rock layers at a "relatively consistent" rate, thus forming the ramp. The waterfall is fan-shaped: expanding out from the 3-4 m wide crest to an "apron" perhaps 20 m wide. The waterfall can be particularly pretty for photography, even during low flows, when the river spreads out over the fan, developing thousands of little "micro-falls" suitable for close-up photography.

Upper Beamer Falls is in the Beamer Memorial Conservation Area, near Grimsby Ontario. There is an upper and lower falls. Finding this falls is relatively easy. Exit the QEW at Christie Street. I do not recall seeing any signs for the conservation area from the road. Head south. Continue south (straight) when you reach the intersection with Main Street. You will now be on Mountain Road. Drive up the escarpment, and take the first left, which is Ridge Road. There is a sign for the conservation area at the corner of Mountain and Ridge. There are two parking areas for the conservation area. The first one is not marked, and is on the right side of the road before you cross the bridge over the creek. From here you can easily see both falls. You can get up close to the upper falls from here. You can look over the edge to see the lower falls from above, but be careful, as it is a long way down.

If you continue on the road across the bridge you will find the "official" parking area for the Beamer Memorial Conservation Area. From here there is a trail that leads down into the gorge where you can get a good view of the lower falls.

Beamers Falls

THE SITE: Beamer Conservation Area is located on the Niagara Escarpment, immediately above the town of Grimbsy and about 2 km south of the south shore of Lake Ontario. The conservation area encompasses the steep-sided, north-south gorge of Forty-Mile Creek, which is carved into the escarpment. The 5 m high Beamers Falls is located at the head of the gorge. The north-facing cliffs of the escarpment are exposed. The drier uplands support forests of oaks, hickories, maples and hemlocks, the steep-sided gorge slopes. The cliff faces are predominantly covered by White Cedar, some of which may be centuries old. The escarpment slopes have forests mainly of Sugar Maple and White Ash, but include other Carolinian species. A small abandoned quarry provides habitat for several species of amphibians and reptiles. Grimsby Point, at the northwest edge of the gorge, is an exposed rocky outcrop overlooking the Forty Mile Creek valley and the Lake Ontario plain.

The most common bird species are the Turkey Vulture and the Red-shouldered Hawk. This is likely a reflection of the recent population increase of Turkey Vulture in Canada. Other species recorded in large numbers include Sharp-shinned Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, and Red-tailed Hawk. Beamers is significant as a concentration point for migrating raptors because of its physiography. The Niagara Escarpment is oriented almost parallel to the southwestern Lake Ontario shoreline. In many locations, the cliffs of this escarpment are up to 20 m high. Often on many days in March and early April strong updrafts occur along the cliff rim as a result of the microclimate. The migrating hawks take advantage of these updrafts. The added feature that helps concentrate hawks at Beamers is a change in the orientation of the escarpment. At this point, the distance between the escarpment and the Lake Ontario shoreline is at its lowest. As well, the escarpment surface is at a much higher elevation than the plain. All these features bring larger concentrations of hawks over the escarpment at Beamers relative to other locations along the escarpment. After mid-April, when prevailing winds tend to have a southerly component, birds usually pass over the park in the early part of the day, then pass to the south as thermals form over nearby farmlands.

Over a period from 1981 to 2000, an average of about 14,000 raptors passed over Beamer CA during each spring migration. Of this total, at least two species are generally recorded in numbers greater than 1% of their estimated national population. These species are Turkey Vulture and Red-shouldered Hawk (nationally vulnerable). The two decade average for Turkey Vulture is 1,895 birds, while the 1996-2000 average is 3,312 birds. This is likely a reflection of the recent population increase of Turkey Vulture in Canada. Other species recorded in large numbers include Sharp-shinned Hawk (avg. of 3,668 birds), Broad-winged Hawk (avg. of 3,344 birds), and Red-tailed Hawk (avg. of 2,959 birds). Diurnal migrant waterbirds and passerines, which use the escarpment as a flight line, are seen in some numbers.

Conservation Issues

The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority owns Beamer Conservation Area. Since 1975, volunteers have monitored the spring hawk migration, spending 550 hours per season on average, with raptors being counted daily from 1 March to 15 May. The counters use a vantage point located in a clearing at the southwest corner of the conservation area. There are no immediate threats to the migrating raptors, but government cutbacks have placed all conservation areas in the local system under severe stress.